Review: Call Recorder does what your iPhone can’t

You may have to remove your iPhone’s protective case in order to use the Call Recorder, as we did

(Credit: Ben Coxworth/New Atlas)

Despite all the amazing things that the iPhone can do, it still can’t record its own phone calls – or at least, not in a simple manner. While there are call-recording apps that let users route their calls through a third-party network, it’s a rather involved approach that most people probably aren’t going to bother taking. PhotoFast, however, now offers a hardware-based solution, in the form of a Call Recorder that plugs into the phone. We tried it out, to see just how well it actually works.

To use the device, you first need to download a free app, and be using earphones with a built-in mic. You plug those earphones into the Call Recorder’s 3.5-mm jack, then plug the Call Recorder itself into the phone’s Lightning port. The app automatically launches once you do so.

From there, you can choose to record outgoing or incoming calls either on the phone’s native phone app, or via apps such as Skype or Messenger. Doing so is a pretty straightforward affair – recording begins automatically once the call is placed.

M4A audio files of calls are saved within the app itself, as well as on a microSD card if you’ve inserted one into the Call Recorder’s slot.

The sound quality is fine, and you can use the app’s player to listen to those files, search through them, pause them, and even edit them. You can also share files by exporting them to other apps, and (if you’re running iOS10) transcribe their audio into a text file.

Overall, we’d say that the Call Recorder is a handy tool indeed, particularly for people such as journalists who routinely do interviews by phone. It’s available now, for US$125.